{"id":2647,"date":"2026-05-10T19:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T10:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/news\/hoian-hidden-gem\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T08:11:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T23:11:27","slug":"hoian-hidden-gem","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/hoian-hidden-gem\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoi An Ancient Town ranks 1st in Travel + Leisure magazine's \"world's hideaway cities\" with 92.96 points \u2014 Da Nang comes 2nd"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>US travel magazine<strong>Travel + Leisure<\/strong>announced on April 1, 2026, in its<strong>World&#8217;s Hidden Gem Cities Rankings 2026<\/strong>(ranking of the world's hidden-gem cities), where the ancient central Vietnamese town of<strong>Hoi An<\/strong>has<strong>92.96 points<\/strong>took first place in the world, and the neighboring<strong>Da Nang<\/strong>ranked second globally. In a ranking that evaluated 23 cities on three axes\u2014travel cost, climate, and density of activities and restaurants relative to city size\u2014Hoi An was described as a place of \"lantern-lit alleys,\" \"East-meets-West architecture,\" and \"a window into the past.\"<a href=\"https:\/\/e.vnexpress.net\/news\/travel\/places\/hoi-an-da-nang-top-travel-leisure-s-world-hidden-gem-cities-rankings-5060904.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VnExpress International<\/a>Here we organize the evaluation points and practical information based on that coverage.<\/p>\n<h2>First among 23 cities\u2014at the world's summit with 92.96 points<\/h2>\n<p>The Travel + Leisure ranking is an annual survey covering<strong>23 cities<\/strong>around the world. It is scored on the following three axes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Travel cost<\/strong>(value for money on airfare, lodging, and dining)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Climate<\/strong>(length of the season suited to sightseeing)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Density of activities and restaurants relative to size<\/strong>(a metric that tends to favor smaller cities)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hoi An<strong>scored 92.96 points overall<\/strong>and took first place in the world, edging out strong contenders such as Bruges in Belgium, Essaouira and Chefchaouen in Morocco, Calabria in Italy, Paros in Greece, Cambridge in the UK, Belgrade in Serbia, and Cascais in Portugal.<strong>Da Nang came in second<\/strong>and, because Hoi An and Da Nang are about a 30-minute drive apart, the ease of visiting both together was also a plus.<\/p>\n<h2>Editor Taylor McIntyre: \"a window into the past\"<\/h2>\n<p>Travel + Leisure editor Taylor McIntyre described Hoi An as<strong>\"a window into the past\"<\/strong>and praised the backstreet scenery lined with colorful houses, temples, and silk lanterns. The specific points she cited were as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lantern-lit alleys<\/strong>(the symbol of its night views)<\/li>\n<li><strong>East-meets-West architecture<\/strong>(a blend of Chinese, Japanese, and French colonial styles)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Old buildings layered with history<\/strong>(an old quarter lined with houses more than 100 years old)<\/li>\n<li><strong>A concentration of caf\u00e9s, restaurants, and craft shops<\/strong>(packed within walking distance)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Local cuisine<\/strong>(banh mi, cao lau, and white rose dumplings)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The magazine described Hoi An as \"living heritage,\" highly rating the fact that it functions as a working town rather than a museum-style preservation.<\/p>\n<h2>Da Nang takes second\u2014pairing with Hoi An adds points<\/h2>\n<p>Second-placed Da Nang was rated for its beaches, emerging urban infrastructure, and international airport. It sits about a 30-minute drive from Hoi An, and about 45 minutes from Da Nang International Airport to Hoi An, so<strong>the ease of pairing the two<\/strong>boosted both cities' scores. Travel + Leisure positions Hoi An and Da Nang as \"complementing each other.\"<\/p>\n<h2>World Hidden Gem Cities 2026 main ranking<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Rank<\/th>\n<th>City \/ Country<\/th>\n<th>Evaluation points<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>1st<\/td>\n<td>Hoi An (Vietnam)<\/td>\n<td>Lantern alleys, East-meets-West architecture, 92.96 points<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>No. 2<\/td>\n<td>Da Nang (Vietnam)<\/td>\n<td>Beaches, international airport, links with Hoi An<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3rd<\/td>\n<td>Bruges (Belgium)<\/td>\n<td>Canals, medieval architecture<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4th<\/td>\n<td>Essaouira (Morocco)<\/td>\n<td>Atlantic-coast port town<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5th<\/td>\n<td>Chefchaouen (Morocco)<\/td>\n<td>The blue town<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>No. 6<\/td>\n<td>Calabria (Italy)<\/td>\n<td>Mediterranean coast<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7th<\/td>\n<td>Paros (Greece)<\/td>\n<td>The whitewashed island<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8th<\/td>\n<td>Cambridge (UK)<\/td>\n<td>University town, historic buildings<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9th<\/td>\n<td>Belgrade (Serbia)<\/td>\n<td>Crossroads of Eastern Europe<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10th<\/td>\n<td>Cascais (Portugal)<\/td>\n<td>Atlantic-coast resort<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Reactions from the industry and local media<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-default\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\u300c\u30d9\u30c8\u30ca\u30e0\u306e2\u90fd\u5e02\u304c\u4e16\u754cTOP2\u3092\u72ec\u5360\u3057\u305f\u306e\u306f\u521d\u3081\u3066\u3002\u30db\u30a4\u30a2\u30f3\u30fb\u30c0\u30ca\u30f3\u306e\u4e00\u4f53\u89b3\u5149\u304c\u56fd\u969b\u7684\u306b\u8a8d\u77e5\u3055\u308c\u305f\u8a3c\u62e0\u3060\u300d\uff08\u30c0\u30ca\u30f3\u5e02\u89b3\u5149\u5c40\u30fb\u65e7\u30af\u30a2\u30f3\u30ca\u30e0\u7701\u30a8\u30ea\u30a2\u62c5\u5f53\u8005\u306e\u30b3\u30e1\u30f3\u30c8\u610f\u8a33\uff09<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-default\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\"I'm glad Hoi An on a lantern-festival night has been evaluated by world standards. It's a town you should visit before it gets too crowded with tourists.\" (paraphrased from a travel blogger's post on X)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-default\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>\"Da Nang as the new city and Hoi An as the old city complement each other. Being able to experience both on the same itinerary is the strength.\" (paraphrased from a comment on a video by a Hanoi-based travel YouTuber)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>On social media, comments such as \"I'll use this as a reference for my Hoi An trip\" and \"I want to go over the next holiday\" lined up, and the number of domestic flight searches within Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang) is said to have<strong>risen about 30% in the week after the announcement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Impact on Japanese tourists and practical information<\/h2>\n<p>Hoi An is a classic central-Vietnam destination for Japanese travelers too, with<a href=\"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/hoian-tailors-tiktok\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the tailor street that draws a rush of made-to-order buyers on TikTok<\/a>and many spots tied to Japan, such as the Japanese Bridge (Lai Vien Kieu). Access from Japan is via<strong>direct flights from Narita and Kansai to Da Nang International Airport,<\/strong>and it's about a 45-minute taxi ride from the airport to Hoi An.<\/p>\n<p>The best season is<strong>February to April and September to October,<\/strong>and caution is needed during the rainy season (late October to December), which carries a flood risk. Entering the old quarter requires a<strong>preservation fee of 120,000 VND (about 706 yen),<\/strong>which includes admission tickets to five heritage buildings.<\/p>\n<div class=\"p-blogParts post_content\" data-partsid=\"1743\"><\/div>\n<h2>Ripple effects on the industry and society<\/h2>\n<p>The world-first rating also creates a new challenge for the city of Hoi An:<strong>strengthening its tourism capacity<\/strong>. Quang Nam Province has announced plans to expand the pedestrian-only zone of the old quarter in 2026 and introduce a digital reservation system to disperse tourists.<a href=\"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/news\/ciel-dining-tastemakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alongside the news that Ho Chi Minh City's fine dining entered the world's top 10,<\/a>the Vietnamese tourism industry is<strong>moving from \"mass tourism\" to \"quality tourism\"<\/strong>into a transition period.<\/p>\n<p>For accommodation and dining businesses in Hoi An, the title of world number one is a powerful marketing asset. At the same time, to keep the surge in tourists from affecting the traditional architecture and residents' lives, city authorities have signaled a policy of tightening caps on accommodation capacity.<\/p>\n<h2>Practical information to grasp before visiting<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table class=\"has-fixed-layout\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Item<\/th>\n<th>Details<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>City name<\/td>\n<td>Hoi An \/ Da Nang<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Access<\/td>\n<td>About a 45-minute drive from Da Nang International Airport<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Direct flights from Japan<\/td>\n<td>Narita \/ Kansai to Da Nang<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Best season<\/td>\n<td>February-April \/ September-October<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Old quarter admission<\/td>\n<td>120,000 VND (about 706 yen, includes 5 heritage sites)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Specialty dishes<\/td>\n<td>Cao lau, white rose dumplings, banh mi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Signature experiences<\/td>\n<td>Lantern festival (14th of each lunar month), tailor-made clothing, boat tours<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Recommended stays<\/td>\n<td>Boutique hotels in the old quarter \/ An Bang Beach resorts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Days needed<\/td>\n<td>3 days\/2 nights (1 night in Da Nang plus 2 nights in Hoi An is the standard)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Summary: the 92.96-point ancient town that shows \"where to go now\"<\/h2>\n<p>First among 23 cities and a score of 92.96 means that Hoi An has<strong>risen beyond \"number one in Vietnam\" to the very top of the world's hidden-gem cities<\/strong>. Lantern-lit alleys, East-meets-West houses, and caf\u00e9s and craft shops packed within walking distance\u2014it has all of these at a density no other World Heritage town can match.<\/p>\n<p>When travelers from Japan tire of the standard Vietnam routes (Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi), the next strong option is<strong>Da Nang plus Hoi An<\/strong>as a paired trip. If you want to visit before the world's number-one rating spreads, securing your itinerary within 2026 is a realistic window.<\/p>\n<h2>Source<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/e.vnexpress.net\/news\/travel\/places\/hoi-an-da-nang-top-travel-leisure-s-world-hidden-gem-cities-rankings-5060904.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VnExpress International\uff5cHoi An, Da Nang top Travel + Leisure&#8217;s World Hidden Gem Cities Rankings<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.travelandleisure.com\/worlds-best-hidden-gem-cities-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Travel + Leisure\uff5cThe World&#8217;s Best Hidden Gem Cities of 2026<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Vietnam Plus\uff5cHoi An tops Travel + Leisure Hidden Gem Cities ranking<\/li>\n<li>Hanoi Times\uff5cHoi An, Da Nang rank top 2 on Travel + Leisure Hidden Gem list<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"p-blogParts post_content\" data-partsid=\"1745\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the \"Hidden Gem Cities Rankings\" announced by U.S. travel magazine Travel + Leisure in April 2026, Vietnam's Hoi An was chosen number one in the world at 92.96 points, and Da Nang second. Evaluating 23 cities by activity density adjusted for travel cost, climate, and size, Hoi An's ancient town \u2014 its lantern-lit alleys, East-West fusion architecture, and being called a \"window to the past\" \u2014 earned high marks. We organize Japanese tourists' visit trends and practical info.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"swell_btn_cv_data":"","ssp_meta_description":"\u7c73Travel + Leisure\u8a8c\u300cHidden Gem Cities Rankings 2026\u300d\u3067\u30db\u30a4\u30a2\u30f3\u304c92.96\u70b9\u3067\u4e16\u754c1\u4f4d\u3001\u30c0\u30ca\u30f3\u304c2\u4f4d\u306b\u9078\u51fa\u300223\u90fd\u5e02\u306e\u8a55\u4fa1\u9805\u76ee\u3001\u30e9\u30f3\u30bf\u30f3\u8def\u5730\u3068\u6771\u897f\u878d\u5408\u5efa\u7bc9\u306e\u8a55\u4fa1\u30dd\u30a4\u30f3\u30c8\u3092\u6574\u7406\u3002","ssp_meta_keyword":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21],"tags":[],"purpose":[],"keyword":[],"location":[],"class_list":["post-2647","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-news","category-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4365,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2647\/revisions\/4365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"purpose","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purpose?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vietnam-gift.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=2647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}